Blue
by lebanesetoaster
Summary: Nerd!Santana, originally written for a friend (shout out to explodinganyway). AU Brittana.
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time there was a girl who wore her hair swept across her head, pulled back into a ponytail. She spent her days doing advanced algebra, and her nights dreaming of the sky. She dreamt of running. Of running so hard that her thick glasses fell away, forgotten, and she would throw her arms out and suddenly she would catch the wind. Her arms were wings and she flew up and up and up into the brilliant dancing blue. She had the same dream every night, of the wings, and the bright blue sky.

Every morning when she woke up, she felt like something was missing. She felt like she could never quite get where she was trying to go in her dream. The dream was exhilarating, like running for miles and never getting tired, but she could feel that she was flying towards something. The blue was calling her, always pulling her closer, but she could never reach it.

She woke up every morning, with the sun, and arrived at school just as the sun was shaking off its morning haze. She sat at her usual desk in homeroom, tuning out the morning announcements as she let her eyes flutter closed for a moment, trying to pull her dream back out of the recesses of her mind. She could never quite recall the shades of blue when she was awake. She couldn't remember the way the white hot sun warmed her soul, until— "Is this seat taken?" a soft voice broke through her thoughts.

She blinked her eyes open, clearing her vision, and turned her head towards the voice. She was struck dumb at the sight. Language fell from her mind completely. In front of her stood a girl with hair like the sun, clutching her books nervously to her chest. Her head was bowed, shyly, but suddenly her gaze snapped up to meet Santana's, and she felt like the air had vanished from her lungs. All Santana could do was blink. Once. Twice. Surely she had gone mad.

The girl's eyes were the same brilliant blue from her dreams. The same exactly. Dancing and playful and bashful and sweet and a million other kinds of blue that Santana couldn't understand for the life of her.

The mystery girl with the familiar eyes was standing there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. She bit down almost painfully on her bottom lip and pulled her eyebrows together, waiting for a response. She glanced nervously to the empty desk next to Santana's, and back at Santana, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"You… you can sit there if you want," Santana had no idea how she managed to form the words. She was transfixed, in a dream, in the blue. She let her face slip into a ghost of a smile as the girl sat down next to her.

"I'm Brittany" the girl said quietly, in an almost hopeful way. "It's my first day."


	2. Chapter 2

Santana studied the girl, taking in the way she she fidgeted nervously with the corner of her binder, flicking the soft purple plastic back and forth, staring at it intently. The way she chewed anxiously at her lip. The way she tried to keep her leg from bouncing.

"What classes do you have?" Santana asked, hoping to distract her from her nerves.

"Um… E-english, and math, and…" she trailed off, fishing a crumpled paper from her notebook, and offered it to Santana. "Here," she added quietly as Santana took the paper.

Santana carefully smoothed the paper out on her desk, and studied Brittany's schedule. "We have the same lunch period," Santana said softly, hoping she would relax. "And _I block_, we have the same study hall. And we both have Mrs. Little for English, but your class is the period after mine."

Brittany gave her a half nod, still seeming unsure.

"You…" Santana trailed off for a moment, before gathering her courage, "you can sit with me at lunch if you want. I don't… it's not the best table, but at least you'd have somewhere to sit? It's the one closest to the lunch ladies… sometimes they give me free fries when the period's almost over, because it's the last lunch period. You… you're welcome to sit with me. If you want," she finished lamely, trying not to seem too eager.

"Are you sure?" Brittany asked after a moment.

Santana's face broke out in a grin. She nodded enthusiastically. "Very sure."

Brittany stopped flicking at the corner of her binder, and she let go of the tension in her shoulders as she leaned back into her chair. Santana felt a strange sense of victory when she saw a smile light up the girl's face, blue eyes catching the morning sun.

She had the strangest feeling that she was getting closer. It was like an itch in the back of her brain. Her dreams calling out to her across her consciousness, telling her that things were somehow falling into place.

"That's the bell," Santana said, only vaguely aware that it had rung. "Do you know where you're going?" she asked, glancing down at the schedule again, "It's sort of on the way to my first class. I can show you if you want."

Brittany nodded, still smiling, as she took her schedule back from Santana.

"Come on, it's not far."


	3. Chapter 3

"It's sort of on the way to my next class." The words rang in Santana's ears as she walked Brittany to the Health classroom on the far side of the building. It sort of was. Almost. Santana bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to convince herself that she wouldn't be late for her History class. It's not like she would miss anything important, but she didn't want everyone's eyes on her if she walked in after the bell.

"I-I think you'll like Miss Holliday," Santana broke the silence that had settled between them. "She's…" Santana trailed off, not sure how to describe the zany Health teacher.

Brittany looked up from the linoleum and quirked a questioning eyebrow at Santana, who in turn shrugged, smirked, and shook her head. "What?" Brittany asked, like she wanted to be in on a secret.

"I don't…" Santana began and trailed off. "There really aren't any words that will do her justice. She's… maybe a little insane? But good insane. And just… I don't know. I guess you'll see soon enough."

Brittany nodded nervously. "I guess I will," she agreed quietly.

"Her classes are never dull, that's for sure." Santana nodded her head towards the next open door. "This is your stop."

Brittany's eyes went wide.

"Come on," Santana playfully bumped her shoulder against Brittany's. "You'll be fine. I'll walk you in."

The blonde woman writing on the whiteboard caught sight of them standing in the doorway, and her face lit up, "Hola, chica!" she said, grinning at Santana.

Santana tried not to roll her eyes, "Hi, Miss Holliday."

"Who's this?" She asked, catching sight of the unfamiliar face over Santana's shoulder.

"This is Brittany, it's her first day."

Miss Holliday cocked her head to the side, trying to get a better look. "Oh, that's right, new transfer student! Brittany Pierce?"

Brittany nodded in confirmation.

The teacher smiled warmly, "It's nice to meet you. You can sit wherever you like. You're just in time for sex ed! Grab a banana from my desk before you sit down."

Santana hadn't noticed the huge pile of fruit on the teacher's desk till that moment. She turned back to Brittany looking guilty. What were the chances? They covered so much in health class—everything from drinking and smoking to healthy eating, and of course, sex, but that was only a small part of the class. "Um… good luck?" she said awkwardly—almost apologetically.

Brittany was already blushing furiously, trying not to look at the bananas. She nodded slowly, eyes wide, not saying a word.

Santana hated that she had to leave, but she glanced regretfully at the clock over the door, and saw that she had thirty seconds to get to her class. Twenty nine. Twenty eight.

"I'm really sorry," she said, taking half a step back, "I would stay if I could, but…" she trailed off, knowing she didn't really need to explain. "I'll see you at lunch?"

Brittany visibly relaxed at the reminder. "Definitely. Table by the lunch ladies, right?"

"Right."

And with that, Santana took the last two steps out the door, waiting till she was just out of sight to sprint off towards her first class.

* * *

Note: I wrote the first three parts to this story last year and posted it to tumblr. I am in the process of posting all of my fics here. I do plan on continuing this story though, since there seems to be some interest. I hadn't really expected to find any kind of an audience here, I was just trying to get organized, so my mind is a little bit blown by the fact that anyone at all is reading and following. I mean, thank you, that's what I'm trying to say! Thank you!

While I've got your attention, I want to point out the links in my profile, to the BrittanaCon website. It's going to be an awesome weekend, with awesome people. You should all look into it! Really, it's because of the con that I finally decided to organize my fic, so... check it out!

And... not to be that person who is like. "read and review," especially since I don't tend to review myself, but... I mean, it wouldn't be the worst idea, since it's been over a year since I wrote anything in this verse. Knowing that people are interested is definitely motivating. You're also welcome to toss out ideas, since... should I admit that I don't know how the story ends yet? I probably shouldn't admit that. I TOTALLY know where this story is going. (okay, no, I kind of do, vaguely, to a point, but... )

Anyway, hope everyone's having a good week!


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